Houston City Council Member Dave Martin, a representative and resident of the Kingwood area, believes the addition of 10 gates to the Lake Houston dam is the single most important project that can be done to prevent future flooding in the Lake Houston area.

The city of Houston is seeking nearly $50 million in grant funds and contributions from the state and county to bring the new gates to fruition, Martin said.

“Our ultimate goal is to make sure we have the ability to release as much, or more, water as is sent our way by the San Jacinto River Authority and build the capacity in the river and the lake that we so desperately need,” Martin said.

“The ability to control the water level in Lake Houston is going to be paramount to making sure we don’t have an incident like we received after Harvey, so if anyone sends us water we have the ability to release water out of Lake Houston, down the spillway and eventually into the Gulf of Mexico.”

In late July, the city submitted an application for $48.5 million in grants from the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program through the Federal Emergency Management in conjunction with the Texas Department of Emergency Management.

The $48.5 million would be put toward the projected $70 million cost of the 10 additional gates. Meanwhile, the gates are also slated to receive funding from the Harris County Flood bond referendum if it passes.

“There is going to be a partnership share and a local match share that will be worked out hopefully after the bond passes,” Martin said. “If you look at what our share could be, partnership share, it could be this $48.5 million and we’re more than halfway home.”

There are other projects vying for the FEMA/TDEM money, but Martin said based on the positive feedback the city has heard back from TDEM about the dam gates project submission, he feels fairly confident in this project’s chances of being awarded the funds.

Additionally, Martin plans on traveling to Austin on Sept. 6 and 7 to meet with Governor Greg Abbott, Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick and Land Commissioner George P. Bush to shore-up support for the dam gate project.

“I’m getting in their ear once again about projects for our area and making sure that while we have Harris County’s commitment, we also have the state’s commitment as well,” Martin said.

The additional Lake Houston dam gates would be intended to mitigate flooding in the Lake Houston area, working in conjunction with the flood bond’s proposed detention facilities on Spring and Cypress Creeks, proposed dredging projects in the San Jacinto River’s East Fork and Lake Houston, as well as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ dredging project in the San Jacinto River’s West Fork.

USACE is working to start the act of dredging at the beginning of September and last until April 2019, according to the contract awarded to Great Lakes Dredge and Dock in July.

Voters will decide on Aug. 25 whether to pass the county’s flood bond. If the bond passes and the city obtains the funding it needs for the project, Martin said Lake Houston may see construction and completion of the additional dam gates within 5 to 7 years.

“There’s going to have to be a number of studies done — environmental, water flow, hydrology studies — which can begin immediately,” Martin said. “It’s a long process. I’d like to see it done tomorrow, but based on what everyone is telling me, 5 to 7 years is a pretty good fast-tracked program.”